The Stax Report: Special Ruse Edition

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Stax casts the big-screen version of the CrossGen comic.

By Stax

Stax here with a special edition of The Stax Report! Just to be clear: there is no feature film adaptation of the recently canceled CrossGen comic book Ruse in the works although I wish there was. If there were such a film in-development, however, I've assembled what I think is an appropriate cast.

For those who haven't read the comic, Ruse is set on an alternate Earth called Arcadia where life seems frozen in the late Victorian period. One of the major differences is that in Arcadia strange creatures and sorcery are an accepted fact of life. Ruse is part Sherlock Holmes and part League of Extraordinary Gentleman. (Check out this cool fansite for more on the comic.)

Needless to say, I was greatly disappointed to find out last month that CrossGen had canceled Ruse in some sort of attempt to revamp the company. Time will tell if their ruse &#Array; 'scuse the pun &#Array; paid off or not.

I'd like to see a Ruse film that was inspired by Mark Waid's initial run on the title, focusing on the relationship between master sleuth Simon Archard and his beautiful (and secretly powerful) assistant Emma Bishop. Their repartee and obvious but unspoken attraction to each other is what made the book so appealing.

If I were making this film then I'd use the gist of the plot of the first twelve issues. Simon and Emma would be out to stop his long-lost mentor and ex-partner Malcolm Lightbourne from destroying the capital city of Partington in his quest to attain the Enigmatic Prism. The charge would be to keep things simple.

That being the case then I'm not too sure if the extradimensional villainess Miranda Cross would fit in without overloading the movie. It might be enough of a task to ask an audience to see a period detective/adventure film without throwing in otherworldly elements on top of it.

Here then is my dream cast for a potential Ruse movie:

Russell Crowe as Simon Archard: Who better to play the imperious, brilliant, aloof, dashing, and handsome master detective than this Oscar-winner who apparently shares so many of the character's traits? While Crowe may not be the spitting image of Simon, he's right for the role and would help put butts in seats for this tough-sell comic book movie.

Naomi Watts as Emma Bishop: This is perhaps the toughest role to cast. Emma mustn't be just a pretty face although her porcelain beauty is not unimportant. She must be a match for Simon. The actress that I think not only looks like Emma but could hold her own with Crowe is The Ring's Naomi Watts. I just wonder is she also has the necessary wit.

Daniel Day-Lewis as Malcolm Lightbourne: Lightbourne is supposed to be a few years older than Simon, his twisted doppleganger and arch-nemesis. Malcolm is arguably more brilliant than Simon as he's the man who taught Archard what he knows. Not only does Oscar-winner Day-Lewis look like the comic book character but I think casting him as Crowe's nemesis/mentor is a master stroke, if I do say so myself. Day-Lewis is only a few years older than Crowe but he's been in the biz longer and is arguably the best actor of his generation. Seeing him go toe-to-toe with Crowe would be, in the words of Will Ferrell as James Lipton, a delight.

- APAngelina Jolie as Miranda Cross: Again, I'm not sure if I'd even include her in the (first) movie. The Archard/Lightbourne relationship is far more interesting and dynamic than falling back on this sexy, extradimensional baroness. Outside of her obvious beauty, this character never appealed to me and wasn't as developed as I'd hoped. But if you need a sexy femme fatale then I'd cast Jolie in the role. There are some panels from the comics where Miranda looks just like a publicity still of the Oscar-winner. If not Angelina Jolie then perhaps Catherine Zeta-Jones or Famke Janssen instead.

For the behind-the-scenes roles, I'd like to see Nicholas Meyer (Star Trek II, Time After Time, The Seven-Per-Cent Solution) write and direct Ruse. If not him then perhaps the team of Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio (Pirates of the Caribbean, The Mask of Zorro) could take a crack at the script.